Receiving Revelation

Today I read 2 Peter 1 and nothing really jumped out at me as the main theme of this chapter. There were several points that bear talking about though. Peter mentions in this chapter having our calling and election made sure. This is a phrase that I have never really heard any Christian church besides the Latter-day Saints talk about. I'm actually really curious how they interpret it and what it means. To Latter-day Saints it means that we receive the Second Comforter, or Jesus Christ appears to us.

This has always been a bit of a strange concept for most Latter-day Saints I think and it isn't talked about much. But essentially Latter-day Saints believe that it is possible to meet the Savior face to face in this life. It is a profoundly personal experience and never talked about so perhaps it is not the mystery of it all that keeps us from talking about it at all so much as it is the sacredness. But we believe that having your calling and election made sure in this life is a promise of exaltation in the life to come. Joseph Smith taught that it is something we should strive for in this life and that it should be our goal.

The other part of the chapter that stood out to me was the part about revelation. Peter says that prophecy comes not by the will of man, but rather from the Holy Ghost. Man can seek out the word of the Lord and can try to find out his standing before the Lord, much as Joseph Smith did when he met Moroni for the first time, but we do not control whether or not that revelation comes. Revelation is given by the will of God and we receive it by the Holy Ghost. Nephi stated that angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost. It is the Holy Ghost that communicates with our spirits and testifies to us that what we are hearing/seeing is true.

Each of us can receive revelation every day if we qualify for it and if we are seeking it. We can receive revelation for ourselves and our immediate family members such as our spouse and children. If we hold a position of leadership in the church, we can receive revelation for those under our care, but that is all. I would never be given a piece of revelation that affected the entire church because I am not the prophet. But I frequently have been given revelation for my family and I strive to try and know God's will for me on a daily basis. We can and should seek out God's direction for us in our lives. But it is God that decides when and if that revelation comes, not us.

We can help that revelation come by righteous living. When we live our lives in accordance with correct principles and strive to do everything the Lord has asked of us, He is more prone to trust us with further revelation. But if we are not living up to the revelation He has give us thus far for ourselves, He is less likely to entrust us with more commandments. We have to prove to Him that we are serious in our desire to be better. Only then will we receive the revelation that we desire. But as we grow and become more spiritual and more in tune with Heavenly Father's will, He will share more of His plan for us and we will start to receive more revelation more often. This is my goal and it should be the goal of every faithful Latter-day Saint who hopes for exaltation one day. Until tomorrow.